Merry Christmas and Quick Story from India

If you are anything like me you are trying to cram in as many Christmas season necessities as possible- whether that be Christmas parties, Christmas traditions, presents or cookies. I sometimes wonder if in all this good busyness I overlook the blessing of Advent. During Advent we are invited to prepare, to get ready, to make a place for the Lord in our lives and in our homes and to anticipate His coming. As your time allows, join me in preparing the way of the Lord this season.

Poisonous Pollution

While I was in Delhi, India the smog was so bad that Time magazine reported that being outside was like smoking 50 cigarettes a day! It was so bad that United cancelled two days of flights to Delhi right after we arrived. We had to walk around with masks on.

The smog starts on the Hindu New Year called Diwali, where Indians celebrate by setting off fireworks. This also indicates to the farmers that it is time to burn their stalks and stubble from their sugar cane crop to make way for their winter wheat planting. Burning their crop is the quickest way to do this, but is also harmful to Delhi’s citizens.

Here is a picture the day before the Diwali and then the day afterwards.

Due to the climate and geographical orientation of Delhi, the smog will stay around for all of winter. Imagine the EMI staff who have to experience this every day for all 3 months of winter. Now imagine what their small children’s lungs are going through. There is talk at EMI of how something needs to change for the families to continue working in this region. Until a solution is determined they are staying indoors using air cleaning filters which helps significantly but is still not ideal. Pray for the EMI families as they continue to serve those in need in India.

I’ll give a longer report on how God is working in India in my next month’s update.

Personal Update- Baptism

As I mentioned in the last update, Drew and Blake committed their lives to Christ this fall. We told them that baptism was the next step of obedience if they felt they were ready. We wondered if getting into a big tub in front of a church congregation of a 700+ people would overwhelm them, but they were excited.